Speculation
by repmetsyrrah
Summary: Modern AU oneshot. In the wake of his new fame from dating a member of the British aristocracy, Tom Branson discovers something he wasn't quite prepared for.


**A/N:** Written for pointlessthingsispendmytimeon on Tumblr. I had to use the line: "Have you gone on Tumblr and seen the things they've written about us?"

Modern AU, my first and most likely only.

**Speculation**

* * *

"I'm rather glad actually, aren't you?"

Lady Sybil Crawley sighed happily as she settled into the arms of her boyfriend. Her incredibly gorgeous boyfriend.

"Glad to lose my job?" Tom asked, looking up from his phone to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Oh please, we both knew that would happen," she reminded him, "and besides, you were never going to be a chauffeur forever."

It was the truth, Tom having only taken the job of driving the Earl of Grantham and his family around as something to pay the bills before he got a journalism job after he graduated Uni last year.

He gave a disgruntled 'hmph' which Sybil knew to be him conceding she was right, though he wasn't ready to say so out loud.

"What are you reading?" she frowned when his eyes refused to leave the tiny screen in his hand, "not more gossip columns? I keep telling you to ignore them."

The news articles about them had been fast and frequent when the story had broken, though none overly harsh. More the gleeful knowledge that such a story would capture the public's love of a romance across the class divide and sell a lot of papers.

The headlines had pushed that angle almost to death.

_Lady Sybil's Forbidden Romance_

_The Lady And The Chauffeur_

_The Princess And The Pauper_

Tom had been a little annoyed at that one- he wasn't rich but he was far from being a pauper.

Though Sybil supposed it hadn't been all that long ago that an aristocrat striking up a relationship with her chauffeur would have had her cast out by society and disowned by her family.

But even though times had moved on, it had been decided it was better for him to resign when the story broke and now he was living in her flat, somewhat unhappily unemployed.

Sybil knew he'd get a job soon though, he was far too good at what he did not to.

"I think Gwen's given me the run down on everything written about us anyway," she told him, her mind returning to the subject at hand.

"Have you gone on _Tumblr_ and seen the things they've written about us?" Tom asked, shaking his head.

"Tumblr…" Sybil frowned, "I think Gwen has one of those."

"So does my sister," Tom said, "I think it's like Pintrest but… not."

"That's the one Daisy has, isn't it?" Sybil went on the internet as much as any 20-something would but Facebook was enough for her when it came to socialising online.

"Well, I sure as hell hope Daisy doesn't post things like _this_." He thrust the phone in her direction and Sybil took it with more than a little apprehension.

She read about three sentences before sighing and shaking her head. "Well, I did warn you things like this could happen," she sighed.

There had been that _Backseat Affair_ story in one of the tabloids that she'd hoped would ready him for the more invasive gossip like this.

"I think it's horrible," he told her. "We're not TV characters or anything. We're people, _real_ people with real feelings who might- and have- click on a link without realising what it will lead to and _see_ this."

Sybil frowned, the comments clearly having a greater effect on Tom than they did on her. She had experience with these things though, the speculation on her and her family's private lives from complete strangers. It was only a few years ago her sister had made the Crawley's unwillingly famous with a one-night stand gone wrong in the Turkish embassy.

Yes, it was wrong, yes, it was creepy and yes, it did disturb her but she didn't have to let herself dwell on it. She didn't know these people and she never would. And neither would he.

"Come here," she ordered her boyfriend, prying the phone out of his grasp and moving to sit on his lap, facing him and kissing him firmly and deeply.

It worked- almost.

"In the car," she mumbled against his lips.

"What?" he asked, pulling back to frown at her.

"In the car," she repeated, "I can't _believe_ we've never done it in the car."

Tom blinked at her, and she watched the idea turn in his mind, a smile forming- before he frowned again. "We're not doing it in the car just because some pervy teenager on the internet hopes we do."

"How about doing it because you want to?" she suggested, knowing he did. "And because you love me?" she added for good measure.

Tom's frown deepened but Sybil could see the conflict play across his face. On one hand, it was rather disturbing to think of a complete stranger thinking about it, but that stranger never had to know and Sybil was rather certain once they started she could make that the _last _thing on his mind.

"Well," he sighed, pushing her off him so he could stand before sweeping her quite literally off her feet as he picked her up. "Who am I to argue with my Lady?"

Sybil just laughed as he carried her to the garage- and the car.


End file.
